Special to the Times
The Boston Parks and Recreation Department today announced a series of public events in partnership with the Friends of the Public Garden to gather feedback on the proposed improvements to Boston Common as part of the Boston Common Master Planning Initiative. Mayor Martin J. Walsh has committed $28 million from the sale of the City’s Winthrop Square garage to renovate and enhance Boston Common.
As America’s first public park, Boston Common is one of the most treasured greenspaces in the world. The goal of the new Master Plan is to create a Common that will serve all people of Boston and visitors to our city while protecting this special place for decades to come.
The first public meeting of the virtual open house will be held on Wednesday, September 16, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The meeting will have interpretation services available in Español, kreyòl ayisyen, kriolu, 简体中⽂, 繁體中⽂
and ASL. The event will be recorded and posted online along with the park improvement plans and supporting graphics. Links to access virtual events will be posted through the Event List page of the Boston Common Master Plan website at www.bostoncommonmasterplan.com in advance of each meeting
This will be followed by smaller, interactive open forum discussions over the coming weeks where members of the public will have an opportunity to review proposed improvements, ask questions, and share ideas with the project team panelists. These next steps in the process follow a series of events engaging the public and collecting their input led by Weston & Sampson’s design studio via open houses and public meetings.
The schedule for the open forum discussions is as follows:
Tuesday, September 22, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.: Park-wide Strategies for Improvements
Thursday, September 24, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Visitor Activities and Play
Tuesday, September 29, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Performances and Active Recreation
Thursday, October 1, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.: Gateways and Edges
For the latest information as the process continues, please visit www.bostoncommonmasterplan.com.